Oklahoma Aquarium

Oklahoma Aquarium

Main entrance
Date opened	May 28, 2003[1]
Location	Jenks Oklahoma, United States
Land area	72,000 sq ft (6,700 m2)
Coordinates	36°01′10″N 95°57′26″W / 36.019488°N 95.957165°W / 36.019488; -95.957165Coordinates: 36°01′10″N 95°57′26″W / 36.019488°N 95.957165°W / 36.019488; -95.957165
Website	www.okaquarium.org

The Oklahoma Aquarium is located on a 66-acre (27 ha) campus along the banks of the Arkansas River in Jenks , a southern suburb of Tulsa. The 72,000-square-foot (6,700 m²) facility was built in 2002 with the expectation to bring nearly 500,000 visitors to the Tulsa metropolitan area annually. The Oklahoma Aquarium opened on May 28, 2003.

Exhibits

The mangrove environment near the Stingray Touch Tank.

On display is an ever growing array of exotic marine life, as well as fish and freshwater environments native to Oklahoma. The aquarium's showcase attraction is Shark Adventure, a 500,000-US-gallon (1,900,000 l) shark tank, complete with a shark tunnel that allows visitors to walk 'through' the shark environment. Near the middle of the tunnel is a 12-foot (3.7 m) high, 20-foot (6.1 m) wide all-acrylic observation dome designed to give unobstructed, 360-degree views of the entire tank and its Bull shark, Lemon shark, Nurse shark, and Sand Tiger Shark inhabitants.

A fish tank at the Oklahoma Aquarium

In the media

In July 2003, Discovery Channel's naturalist and filmmaker Nigel Marven (along with crew) documented four bull sharks at home in the architecturally innovative half-million gallon tank. The resulting shots and commentary were featured in the 2003 edition of Discovery Channel's Shark Week series.

Notes

1. ^ "Our Mission". okaquarium.org. Oklahoma Aquarium. http://www.okaquarium.org/ourMission.php?subPageName=ourMission. Retrieved 1 April 2011. 

External links

• Official website